In the broad daylight neither man nor beast could have had power to
daunt him. He was, when put to his mettle, one of the most courageous
and daring youths in the island, and, saving only his elder brother
Alpin, who was the bravest swordsman of his own age in all the land,
there was none who might attempt to draw arms against Kenric. And, in
truth, had it not been that he was sorely troubled in spirit concerning
the strange words of Elspeth Blackfell, and also that so many omens had
foretold disaster, it may be that even on that same night he would have
passed through the dark avenues of the forest with neither doubt nor tremor.
But in an age when the meaning of nature's work was little understood,
when even religion was not yet strong enough to conquer the superstition
which found evil in things which were only mysteries, it was small
wonder that young Kenric of Bute should wish himself safely at home in
his father's castle, or regret that he had not gone back to the abbey of
St. Blane.
Nevertheless it was not alone the thought of trolls and elfins that
disturbed him. At that time the wild boar and the wolf were denizens of
the forest wherein he walked -- animals which would indeed be welcomed
in the daylight by a band of hunters with their spears and hounds, but
which might give some trouble to a youth appearing alone in their midst
on a dark night.
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